Time to relax! What better way of doing that than to enjoy one of my favourite hobbies – poetry!

I recently bought a poetry anthology to help pass the time during the Coronavirus Lockdown. It is called The Rattle Bag, and it is edited by both Seamus Heaney and Ted Hughes, who are two fantastic poets.

Being a keen poet myself, The Rattle Bag was recommended to me by a professional poet, to help broaden my knowledge and skills in writing poetry. I am very thankful to her for suggesting it for my first poetry anthology and I’m really enjoying it so far!

I read today a beautiful and powerful poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins called Binsey Poplars (click on the following link to read it https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44390/binsey-poplars !).

Binsey Poplars was a poem written in 1879 about the felling of a group of poplar trees northwest of Oxford.

One really feels the sense of loss whilst reading the poem, which I believe Gerard perhaps felt himself whilst he was writing it.

I also think the poem beautifully suggests how we should try to preserve our gorgeous planet as much as we possibly can, and not destroy it by deforestation.

However, as everyone knows, wood is an essential material. As Table Tennis players, our bats (blades) are nearly always made from wood. This essentially means that without wood as a base material, Table Tennis wouldn’t exist as we know it today.

After reading the poem Binsey Poplars, I think the main point I personally took from it, is to further respect and take care of my equipment; not to neglect the beautiful material I use daily in the Table Tennis hall. Wood is vital to us and our survival as humans, and so we should try to use it sparingly, looking after it where we can.

What’s your opinion? Please do let me know!